Owlsrest
by InkyStake
Summary: We live in the middle of nowhere. Why is there someone knocking on our door? Weasleys in Essos. Dragonkin AU One-Shot


Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Game of Thrones do not belong to me.

* * *

 **AN:** Another Dragonkin AU, but it was too long to put in with the other. So here you go.

* * *

Owls rest in the sunlit wood

Where night does not touch,

And shadowed spirits seldom brood.

* * *

 **ooo00~00~00ooo**

They were fighting a feral dragon, little more than instinct and rage. The dragon was old and cunning but Charlie's team was experienced. It was dying and didn't want to die. It reached out and touched Ginny's soul, sought to control it through the gaps that were there.

A desperate move. A dragon not insane would never seek to be a weak human.

" _Gin!_ "

Not again. _Notagainnotagainnotagain!_

She screamed.

It was her soul. Hers. _Hers._

She ripped into the invading mind with a desperate fury.

The dragon roared, a mad sound that clawed at their eardrums and made them bleed. It turned its focus on the redhead that was almost as ferally attacking mentally.

" _Don't tell me to calm down! It's killing my sister!"_

It did not succeed.

Its essence, the remnants of itself, fell into the cracks of her soul and with them both weakened, entwined and settled to heal.

The dragon fell and the woman swayed in the breeze wrought by its falling. She dropped to her knees. A human was not meant to hold more than a single soul. A third attempted possesssion and the remnants of souls in her threatened to tear her apart. Was she screaming? There was screaming.

" _Gin! Ginny, listen!"_

Wings, scaled and trembling in air, burst out of her shoulders.

A deep voice started intoning a spell.

The screams went silent and Ginny succumbed to comforting darkness in relief.

* * *

"We need this."

"Charlie..."

"Bill, you and Fleur can't keep setting up wards for us. I think they're using soul magics. There's no other reason why they keep finding us."

"You're talking about dimension travel." Bill was trying to be calm. His brother was desperate enough for the both of them.

The thing was, there were less and less ways to protect Ginny as each ward he came up with was unraveled by teams hired by whoever wanted his sister, the only dragon-souled witch in the world. A novelty, a power, a fount of knowledge waiting to be dissected. There were people wanting her to become queen, for Frey's sake.

A slim arm came around his shoulders. Bill looked up to see his wife sit at the arm of his chair, eyes soothing and lips grimly thin. There was something in her gaze, a spark of life that he'd not seen since the trailing end of the war spilled over viciously onto the shores of France.

He looked back at Charlie. "We're coming with you."

* * *

It turned out, there were a number of the others who would willingly leave behind a world for a fresh start.

* * *

Essos, The Red Waste:

A ping had Charlie and Ginny straightening, Charlie from his book and Ginny from sharpening her sword. A quick rock-paper-scissor determination and Charlie got up from the comfortable couch with a sigh.

Despite herself, Ginny put down the Italian sabre in curiosity. "Who the heck would be in this wasteland?"

"And magical," mused Charlie as he shoved his feet into boots.

Ginny grimaced. Their encounters with magicians in this world hadn't exactly been positive. Footsteps on the stairs made both of them look up. Bill was dressed in dragonhide and already had his sword at his side.

Their magic didn't work with wands anymore, something to do with the earthen magics of this land being different according to Luna - Ginny didn't listen all that well in her distress. Fleur and Bill then found that their wandless magic worked - Bill's mage sight and Fleur's fireballs still were viable and stronger than ever, so the two and Charlie started teaching the rest. Wandless magic required mental focus and a strong will.

It was hard going. Ginny didn't like sitting for long periods of time, Luna's mind wandered, Harry was a little emotionally broken, and George was still heart-rent about Fred. All of them were not whole. Still, they had the will to learn, for they were wizards and without magic they were vulnerable.

Bill's cursebreaking required him to be proficient with non-magical methods of defense, and it had been a great and lucky thing that he knew his way around a sword. He'd drilled them for months until they could reliably fight without hurting themselves.

Apart from Bill's swordskills, they learned other things. Bending light around themselves to make them invisible - from Luna - allowed them to study others and took care of many problems they would have had fitting in. Charlie taught them scent-masking spells to help. Apparation was possible but limited to line-of-sight until they learned to make apparation markers for further places. They did learn that apparation was easier now -likely because their bodies took something from crossing worlds in exchange for their wands.

"Did the wards malfunction?"

Ginny frowned as she remembered what ward was keeping people from entering the patch of desert wasteland that they'd claimed for themselves. The repelling wards should have worked, even if the individual was a squib, since a lot of people in this world had some form of magic within them but they could not actively use it. She stood a trifle reluctantly and started belting her sabre on. "We should call the others."

"They're alerted. If they don't arm themselves immediately, I've failed teaching them all."

"It could be a simple glitch," reminded Charlie.

"Doesn't hurt to check."

They trudged into the courtyard and down the stone steps leading to the castle they named Owlsrest. The place looked desolate but the plants they brought were starting to spread. It was still better than four years ago, when there was no greenery at all. It had taken them a year of deciphering the Malfoy Family construction magics that Draco reluctantly lent them before they could erect Owlsrest.

It stood on a hill that rose from a chasm whose steep cliffs curled around the foot in three directions. The entrance was an easily defensible canyon-valley that now was starting to look like it would one day burst with trees and gardens where just several years ago it was barren.

They apparated to the small folly that George insisted be built into the canyon wall. There were several of these follies in various scenic, strategic, hidden-away places around the one kilometer square area which was the extent of what they could securely ward. Unfortunately none of them knew how the Fidelius worked. Luna was still working on re-inventing something similar though the wards Charlie and Bill knew were more than adequate considering they lived in the middle of nowhere.

Ginny felt something in her stir as she heard the intruder moving below. She frowned and immediately challenged. "Who goes there?"

The three of them leaned out the window shrouded in vines.

Below them, the intruder whirled, looking for the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"

Charlie gasped, eyes wide. "Dragons."

He had sorely missed his favorite animals.

Ginny's lips thinned. Her dragon-soul was reacting, willing her to move closer, to know, to possess those that were kin. She pressed her hand against the stone and willed magic to make the stairs melt out of the canyon wall. It was an impressive bit of magic and George had definitely made it awesome. Ginny had never known runes to be so cool.

She ignored the roaring within her, the possessive demands, and proceeded down the steps unfolding from unassuming stone. Usually the dragon within her wanted to destroy those that would harm their family. She could understand the need to be with their own kind however and tried not to show her eagerness to meet the dragons. She studied their visitor.

She was young, Ginny decided, looking at the wide eyes and the anxiety hid behind a steady gaze and stiff shoulders.

Then there were the dragons clinging to her. She understood Charlie's longing, as he'd been the most affected when all their research stated that magic had waned in this world and the dragons were extinct just a hundred years prior. He still went on expeditions, thinking there would be a nest or two in unexplored places.

The only dragon she knew was in her own soul, and that one had long been content as long as she did not actively ignore him. The dragon's desires were few: kin, flight, making sure that they were the strongest there was, and shiny baubles. Her fierce care for her family, her competitiveness, and her love of flying meant that she could satisfy most of her dragon-desire by simply being herself. As for shiny baubles, that was a bit more tricky. She'd had to build up a hoard after coming into this world. Her family mostly teased her by bringing souvenirs in precious metals, stones, and crystals from where-ever they roamed.

She had to try very hard not to let the dragon interpret those gifts as 'tribute'. The others only laughed when she told them and brought back shinier novelties. They were all little shits.

It was on their travels that they found that there were magic-users in this world. They were less free with their magic than wizards though. They hoarded and stole and coveted magic.

The initial encounters of those with magic was one of the reasons they built Owlsrest in a place few would venture into.

Charlie all but tripped after her as Bill stayed back and watched their backs.

Ginny twitched in irritation as the dragon in her roared louder as she neared the trespasser. "Who are you and how did you get inside the wards?"

The silver-blonde-haired girl stiffened at her demand and lifted her chin. "I am Daenerys Stormborn. I walked into the...cliff."

"Ginevra Weasley. My brother Charles."

"Call me Charlie," said brother was quick to say. "Your dragons are less than a month old. Where is their mother?"

"I _am_ their mother."

The two Weasleys blinked at that. Ginny sighed and muttered. "Circe save me from crazies and dragon-addled fools."

The girl narrowed purple eyes at Ginny, who ignored her and walked past to check on the ward. Charlie smiled at the girl.

"Don't mind my sister, she's just mad someone managed to break into our home."

That was true, but not the only reason. The girl and her dragons unsettled her and she hushed her inner dragon forcibly. It settled into a grumbling silence but she could still feel herself extending her magic over the three baby dragons and their apparent mother behind her. She sighed and started going over the wards, an ear on the conversation behind her.

"Break? My apologies, I did not mean to damage anything. Drogon vanished into the cliff and I only wished to take him back."

"The ward's intact," Ginny said. "I can understand why the dragon could enter, there is a sanctuary ward after all. But people, even those stupid vampires from Qarth, should've been kept out."

"I know not. If your protections allowed entry to dragons, perhaps there is truth to my ancestors saying we are blood of the dragon."

Ginny twitched. A dragon-souled? The dragon in her rumbled consideringly but not positively. A descendant of one then. "Wow, they must be more dragon-mad than my brother here, and he's actually worked with dragons before."

"Ginny, don't be so harsh. It wasn't her fault after all."

The girl was staring in surprise at Charlie and Ginny could just see the myriad questions on those lips. She interrupted grumpily. "Come on then, you look like you need a good meal and a wash. We'll talk it over dinner."

Charlie looked at her in surprise. Then the dragon in her roared in approval and her magic soared. The dragonlings perked up and the girl, Stormborn, blinked as she felt a subtle wash of welcome in the wake of Ginny's words.

Ginny wanted to take the words back suddenly as the enormity of them struck her. This was her dragon-territory, for all that Harry was their nominal leader. She had just invited four other dragons into her territory and offered them sustenance.

She glanced at the dragonlings. Even so young, they were trying to sing their acceptance to her invitation. She grimaced inwardly. She would never be rid of them now. Even after they grew, they would remember this place, this welcome.

She'd have to warn Harry that there were three possibly feral dragons that would be visiting willy-nilly but oh, it would only be for the next several hundred years or so. Nothing to say about their descendants.

The girl visibly restrained her questions. "Would you extend the courtesy to my people?"

Charlie paused from his examination of the dragons. Ginny raised her brows. "How many people exactly?"

"Nearly a hundred."

"What in hell are a hundred people doing in...you know what, I don't care. You're Harry's problem now."

"Tsk, Gin," grinned Charlie. "What work you're making for our Harrykins."

"The ward was his idea."

"What was my idea?"

The three looked to see Harry walking down from the folly with Bill. Brigid, from Hedwig's first clutch, was perched on his arm. The hybrid snowy owl was one of the smallest of Owlsrest's flyers but was twice the size of her mother already.

"The wards apparently let dragonkin in as well as dragons," Charlie answered.

"Dragonkin?" Harry asked.

"It's an old myth," Bill supplied. "Sorcerers who found a way to take the traits of their chosen animal into themselves, dragons in such case being the apex predator of ancient times. Theoretically the basis for animagi, actually."

"This is Daenerys Stormborn, and the dragons are her clutch," Ginny said. The girl looked surprised at her simple voicing of the fact, considering Ginny's skepticism earlier. "This is Henry James. Can we get on with it? There are a hundred people outside the wards, and if I don't mistake the situation, they're in need of more than food and water."

"I would be most grateful, Ser Henry. We have been traveling over the wastes for weeks."

"Call me Harry, everybody does."

"Dany then."

Harry smiled at her and moved past her to tweak the wards. Charlie immediately moved to catch Dany's attention, talking about the small unhealthinesses he'd found in each. The dragons were different from what he was used to but not all that different. Various characteristics were the same. He already knew the hatchlings would benefit from a similar diet and care regime. The little dragonets' wings needed oiling already, though they appeared healthier than he thought, being caught in the wastes since they hatched.

It took Daenerys' order for the khalasar to enter the canyon. They marveled at the greenery, eyes wide, feet stumbling. Ginny would too, if she had spent the last weeks walking through wasteland and suddenly entered what looked like a burgeoning garden. Harry led them down the canyon to the open space at its mouth.

"Welcome to Owlsrest," Harry smiled, still a bit proud of the home they'd built. He directed a Ser Jorah Mormont and two of the _kos_ toward the herd of long-horned cow-like animals they'd stashed in a corner of the property.

"Could you drain the blood when you butcher the animals?" called out Charlie. "We need it to feed the dragons."

There was an odd look on Daenerys' face as she assented.

"Why is it called firewhisky?" she asked as Ginny rolled a few barrels out of the Owlsrest cellars.

Charlie laughed. "Oi, Ginny. Remember that bet?"

Ginny grimaced but nodded reluctantly. Their distilled firewhisky wasn't like Ogden's but it was approaching it. Fleur, as the best of them in potions, actually managed to approximate the recipe, though she grumbled about overly-paranoid alchemists.

Charlie pulled out two cups and filled them from the barrel. "Bottoms up, little sis."

They drank in one gulp. Charlie grinned at the warmth coursing through his stomach and with the ease of long practice, blew out a cloud of steam towards the sky. Ginny was coughing tiny slivers of flame and gouts of smoke, to her chagrin. She never did take to spirits.

He turned to Daenerys' raised brows. "That's why it's called firewhisky."

He offered her a cup. She looked at it skeptically but took it.

"Your Grace," warned the large bear of a man who was her knight apparently. But Daenerys knocked back the cup fearlessly. She gasped.

Charlie laughed. "Just let it out."

She coughed, though a bit less than Ginny. The flames and smoke dissipated. Charlie refilled her cup. "It's really meant to be sipped."

She glared at his cheerful explanation. "I do not think I will ever be used to the taste."

"Yeah, it's a bit strong. It's the warmth that's important."

"Not even," she muttered. He patted her shoulder with a grin. She sipped and grimaced.

The firewhisky was a great novelty with the khalasar.

"May I ask, your sister said you've worked with dragons before? How can this be, are there other dragons in the world?"

Charlie shook his head. "To my knowledge, there are no dragons other than yours here. My employer's dragons were...they are gone as well. May I? I'd like to examine their health."

She looked wary, but nodded. Charlie gently started examining the green dragon, carefully lifting him from Daenerys' shoulder.

Harry studied the girl as he walked up to them. She didn't notice him, busy sending concerned glances at Charlie and his handling of her dragons every now and then. But it didn't go unnoticed that several of the men watched him carefully as he approached her. The man in knight's clothing turned to face him in warning.

He met their eyes, conveying no threat. Dany looked up as he stepped beside her.

"You're Dothraki." An inane observation but he couldn't see how to politely bring up the fact that he would like not to be raided in the near-future, thanks very much. If only because digging the graves for a hundred people wasn't something he wanted to do with his spare time.

Daenerys' attention turned to him. "Yes."

"And the people, you lead them?"

"They call me khaleesi."

There was a well of grief behind those words. Now that he was nearer, he could see that she was as unwell as the rest of the ragtag group. Harry's eyes met Bill's, who sighed and nodded. He was certain what Charlie's answer would be and Ginny already had implied that they should help. The kids would be all for helping. Fleur and Luna would side with the kids.

"I have invited all into the wards. You'll be able to set up your tents outside the canyon. We'll prepare the grounds."

"I am in your debt. What would you ask in return?"

That was definitely not Dothraki custom. He was curious, but didn't ask about her Khal. "Don't tell anyone about this place."

She frowned. "Is that all?"

"We value our privacy."

She nodded. "Then I shall comply. As will my people."

* * *

"You left your home?"

"Before we would wreak vengeance on those who did not know better." He quirked thin lips at her, a trifle knowingly. "Vengeance boils the blood, leaves but a small, wrinkled petty thing of a heart. To pursue it is to invite pain and death."

"I cannot. I cannot simply give up when my family's murderers sit on the throne that belonged to us for three hundred years."

"And when you return and kill them all, will their children and their children's children rise up against you as well?"

"It is my birthright and my duty."

"You really believe that, don't you?" He sighed. "Duty to blood and name and house. Duty and honor and birthright. They are only things. They are only things that accumulate over centuries of a family's existence. They do not make you belong. Even if we cling to every vestige of our heritage in order not to be alone."

She stared at him. "How do you know this?"

"I grew up a slave in all but name. When my parents' world came for me, it was a succour. But I was weak then and not given to asking questions. I soaked up the scraps of knowledge they told me about my parents and grandparents but I did not ask questions. I read the books about my family but they only reinforced what others were saying. Potters were courageous and bold, kind and strong. They laughed in the faces of their enemies and strode fiercely forward in battle without fear. I walked the path I thought they would want me to walk." Harry stared at his hands. "It was years before I found that they used my heritage and circumstances against me, to control me, to make me a weapon pointed at the enemy. What they said was truth, but not all of it. My father was ruthless and my mother was cunning. My father had a will unyielding as rock and my mother had a brain that cut deeper than swords. Both of them would not have been led, would not have allowed themselves to be manipulated. Even now, all of that pales in significance to the one thing I know for certain: they died that I may live. All I know about them for sure was that they wanted me to live. I know that because I still hear my mother dying for me in my dreams. And in order to see that their will was done, I left."

"I am a dragon, blood of Old Valyria." _How could I be anything else?_ was unsaid but understood.

"A nation still smoking from the depths of its destruction. I'm not telling you to discount your family, your history. I'm telling you that at this point you are the only one who could define what a Targaryen is, what the blood of the dragon is. I'm telling you that you are free to choose. I think this," He waved at the land around Owlsrest. "isn't what my parents imagined for me. But it has brought me some measure of happiness, and that would have made them happy. This place has brought some measure of happiness to all of us."

He smiled sadly. "The weight of a name is a terrible, wonderful thing to a child who has little else. And all those years, I let others define what Harry Potter should be. No more. I am simply Harry, a breeder of very odd owls. Suits me, I think. You are welcome here, in any case. I already know you will not stop looking for what it is that has brought you across the waste."

* * *

"Why do you feed them blood and drink?"

Charlie smiled at the young woman who was coaxing the pale dragon to drink from the bowl of blood. "It's a precaution, mainly. Dragons are predators and carnivores, it's just their nature. Getting them addicted to the alcohol and animal blood means there is less chance that they would eat humans when they grow big enough. Well, unless you drench someone in wine and blood."

Dany's eyes widened. She had not thought of that. "I am their mother. Surely they would obey me?"

"And when you aren't there?" Charlie handed her another bowl. "They will need to hunt, and you will not always be there to stop them when they get hungry enough. Admittedly, this is not a foolproof solution but it significantly lessens the risk that they would eat innocents."

Dany was quiet for a time. "Thank you," she said at last. "I would not chain my children for fear of what they would do."

"Dragons can't be tamed," he agreed. "But a dragon that can control his passions is the more dangerous dragon."

She blinked at him, then nodded, conveying a certain respect. "I will keep it in mind."

* * *

A blade spun out of nowhere and the man dropped, a thin red line blooming along his throat. Ser Barristan and Daario stood back to back before Daenerys, looking for the source of the attack.

"Show yourself!"

Lips quirked up. Well, the khaleesi was all grown up and had a more confident air but still the same girl. "Well, if you shout loud enough, I'm certain a potential assassin _would_ show themselves."

Dany glared at the red-haired woman smirking at her from where she leaned on a pillar. The red-edged blade held loosely in one hand made fair evidence that she had killed the man. "Ginevra."

"Well met, dragonkin. You appear healthier than last we saw each other. Though, you seem to have lost your growling bear."

"Show respect, girl. This is the queen." demanded Ser Barristan.

"It's fine, ser. This is Ginevra Weasley of Owlsrest." She addressed Ginny again. "Ser Jorah was a spy for my enemies. This is Ser Barristan of the Queensguard and Daario of the Second Sons. You know my bloodriders already."

"You're cursed to live an interesting life, khaleesi." It was said with a teasing tone. She wiped the blood off her blade and sheathed it, walking closer and ignoring the bared weapons of the two men in the room. She frowned at the man who had attacked Daenerys. "Those who hail you Breaker of Chains appear to be trying to kill you."

"How astute, I hadn't noticed myself."

Ginny laughed. "Always liked your sass."

"Why are you here, Ginevra? Surely it's not to laugh at my failures."

Ginny studied her at that, her smile dimming. "The failures of other people are not yours. This failure," she nodded at the downed man. "does not belong to you. Cheer up eh? You are alive, young, and free to make your own failures and successes in the future."

"That is not as comforting as you and Harry deem it to be."

"Freedom can be a dragging weight all on its own," Ginny agreed. "Especially for those who have not had much of it."

Daenerys took a deep breath and let it out, eyes suddenly sad. "I do not believe I have made a mistake."

"Then you have not. It is the prerogative of leaders to decide. It is the duty of followers to make sure what is decided happens." And if that decision came with less than stellar results, well, that is why a leader needs to learn.

"Did Harry send you then?"

"Harry worries, and you're the first friend we've made in a while. But no, Lu sent me."

Daenerys waited. "Why?" she asked when Ginny didn't look like she'd say anymore.

"It's Lu. Who knows what she's thinking. Apparently you already have a lot of swords so you need a temporary shield until you find your own or something."

Dany snorted. "You? A shield? Who would blunt your edges to make it so?"

"Hey, I can be a shield. I can be a pretty good shield."

"What shield is swung in place of the sword?"

Ginny grinned, teeth showing. "A shield meant to break blades."

Dany smiled, almost fond. "If you say so, then I would welcome your addition. Ser Barristan is in charge of my protection. Please work with him. Are we expecting any of your family in the near future?"

"No, not really. Just me. Though Charlie is in Astapor. He may drop by."

Dany's eyes darkened at the mention of the first slave city she'd attempted to liberate. "Do you know the situation there?"

"Yes. It's not as serious as it looks, what's-his-name -Cleon?- doesn't have that many supporters and he's losing what he has with his bloodthirstiness. Another month and he'll probably be deposed by one of his current followers. Charlie's been smuggling people out of the city before they're turned into slaves or Unsullied. He can re-establish a council in your name but we don't have the resources to keep the city unless you can spare troops."

The last was accompanied by a questioning brow. Dany closed her eyes in response.

"Right. We'll just mark Astapor as lost for this time. Retaking it would be simple in the future anyway seeing as it doesn't have men to defend it, unless Qarth or one of the other cities takes an interest."

"You may be sure one of them will." Ser Barristan relaxed a little. "It is too close to Mereen and Yunkai. They can use it to launch an offensive against us."

"I'll tell Charlie." Her brother would do a lot to protect the last dragons in this world. "I've been traveling since you left, so I haven't seen most of the family for some time. Lu's in Mantarys, something about an interesting business venture. Don't ask me, I'm not going to be surprised if she suddenly turns up as the city's consul. Fleur's in Volantis. She says she wants to put the entire passel of inbred idiots inside the black walls to the torch. Also, she says that somehow there is support for the Targaryens there. And not only among the tigers. If you've been campaigning there, you could probably ask for troops. They'll likely not give it, considering your platform of conquest, but you never know."

"The Volantene tigers have always valued the blood of Old Valyria. But I know no one there. Perhaps Illyrio had connections in the city."

"Illyrio?"

"He's a Pentosi merchant. He sheltered Viserys and I before my marriage."

"Well, George is in Old Town. He can easily take a ship to Pentos when he returns if you want to know what this Illyrio is doing."

"Does he plan on being a maester?"

Ginny laughed. "If you knew how George was like before, you'd not ask that."

"Would the George of now desire to be a maester? What is he doing there if he does not?"

Ginny still had a smile playing around her lips. "He might. He appeared to be the only one of us with the patience to learn Westerosi. Which reminds me." She reached into her satchel and pulled out a package tied with string. "This is for you."

Dany smiled when she saw what was inside. "More books?"

"Harry might consider a career in scholarship, come to think of it. For someone who was a bad student, he reads a lot in his old age."

"These are..." Dany was speechless as she teased a letter from one of several stacks inside a flimsy wooden box.

"One of the maesters was wanting to write a book on the Baratheon rule and another was already finishing up a history of Targaryen rule since the Dance of Dragons. They appear to hoard information, those maesters. George says they're little more than spies for the Citadel so there was a wealth of source material. Interesting, eh?"

"You...stole from the Citadel?" Ser Barristan seemed to bristle.

"Copied. Copied information they had no business having anyway. In any case, a lot of the letters aren't from the Citadel. They're from the Red Keep."

Both Dany and Ser Barristan looked up sharply at that.

"Grandmaester Pycelle is careless with his hoard of blackmail material," explained Ginny with a smile.

"The maesters do not _blackmail_ ," Ser Barristan said slowly.

"Maybe, but some of these letters and records should have been burned and never brought to light. Those ones we _stole_ , ser. George is having fun apparently, so he may send other things. Though he says there was this entire frustrating three days in the Riverlands he was mistaken for a Tully and people wouldn't leave him alone. He had to blacken his hair."

Ser Barristan could only nod and say. "The Tullys are known for their red hair and blue eyes. You would not look amiss in their ranks, as would your brother if he had your color."

He did not know who these people were but they did seem to be allies of his queen. He watched this Ginevra brashly tease the exasperated and amused last Targaryen and thought that things appeared to be getting more interesting. He didn't know how much more 'interesting' Mereen could take at this point, but at his queen's side he was sure to find out. There was a thrum of half-alarmed anticipation in his old bones.

 **ooo00~00~00ooo**

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for the reviews. There will be no sequel. I seem to only write prologues here anyway. If anyone wants to continue the story, feel free.  
**

Suddenly being offered freedom can be very panicking. I regret not going into slave culture here and focusing on Westeros while they're in Essos. Maybe another time. Are there good fics that have a focus on Essosi culture? I haven't come across any yet.

According to canon, apparation is achieved by focusing on Destination, Determination and Deliberation. But you can't remember every place you have been that you want to be again, so I headcanon the Wizarding world with apparation pamphlets that have lists of apparation markers and designated landing areas. Magicals used apparation first before someone studied and recently created portkeys. Portkeys are like apparation contained in what seem to be deliberately hilarious objects that somehow don't have the possibility of that little splinching problem. The thing is, the portkey maker still has to focus on location and has to make sure they don't bump their magically dispersing molecules into other people's magically dispersing molecules (imagine the horror of having another person grafted onto you. But I don't really know how the whole disapparation thing works so maybe that's not possible because _magic_ ), so apparation pamphlets and designated landing areas are still being used.

The little verse in the beginning is only meant to convey a wish, a hope for peace, which is why the name of their home is Owlsrest. They've all found happiness and peace there so it's partially reality I guess. But they're all still shadowed souls that are finding ways to carry on.

Owlsrest: Harry breeds owls and magical post owls. They're vicious and scary owls too. They're two-feet tall and have wicked claws. Here's the roster for HP characters in this verse: Bill -32, Charlie -30, Fleur -26, George -25, Harry -22, Ginny -21, Luna -21, Teddy -5, Victoire -4. Andromeda came with them as well, but died getting Teddy and Victoire away from the vampires in Qarth.

So the premise for this is:

Tom Riddle ripped pieces of Ginny out when the diary was destroyed, leaving an obsession with Harry Potter that nearly ripped her family apart. But then she, inadvertently, while fighting a feral dragon, got caught in its dying revenge and parts of its soul plugged the parts that were ripped out, leaving her with feral dragon characteristics/instincts and the ability to turn into a big farking winged lizard. The obsession with a single person turned into an obsession with other things.

There hasn't been a dragon animagus in Britain since the Pendragons died out. She's sought out to be killed, studied, or put under control. There is a reason for this too: The dragon instincts are closer to the surface in the dragon-souled and Ginny has been possessed before, which left cracks in her psyche for the dragonmind to embed itself. This means she's often a hair's breadth away from uncontrolled destruction and she's halfway insane. The soul is not meant to be forced, no matter how resilient.

So to keep her from all the people who want to kill her or use her, Charlie decided to jump dimensions. He just didn't expect all the others to follow.


End file.
